River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-04-14

| The man or women who would Ell
| gaze in any one branch of farm wOT
| should educate him or herself to tina
| work. It is not Necessary to serve a
| apprenticeship of seven long year,
as boys were obliged too in an earl
| day. Then information was impaTte
by word of mouth, at the present tim
the press backed by men OF expert
ence, stands ready to give to Il
| through its many periodicals, yaluahl
Information that has been learned b.
practical experience. The young farm
er should read up his business-tak
farm journals that will keep him post
| ed every week and month in the worl
he is engaged in. He should take pen
Gil and note book and visit the expert
mental farm, the butter factory, tn,
stock farm, the apiary. and man,
other places, where he will Learn
many lessons that will assist him il
his work. Should his choice be sheer
husbandry and he has decided to pur
chase flock of sheep for the farm, h,
should first seed down with equal pro
portions of clover and timothy seeds
a sufficient amount of land for pasture
in proportion TO number of sheep Il
be pastured, allowing that 7 Cotswoo
sheep will require the same amount oil
pasture that is required for one short
horn COW. The sheep pasture should be
fenced with boards low enough to KEEP
sheep from crawling under, high
enough that they may not jump over,
and close enough that they cannot crawi
through and destroy your neighbor' S
crops. Sheep need shelter and shade in
summer as well as winter. shed with
1atton boards taken off in summer
affords comfortable place for sheep
t. go under and bee protected from the
hot sun, and the thunder storms that
are sometimes accompanied with hail.
\ good shepherd when he sees the
black clouds approaching from the
west, will look after his hOcks, and see
that they are sheltered, knowing very
well that if his sheep land this will
apply to other animalS) take shelter
under the branches Of tree or by the
size of \ fence, constructed partly
Of wire, that there is danger of their
being killed by electricity.
Sheep should have access to water
at all times, then if there We're no
dogs or wolves and sheep were allowed
to feed morning and evening, when
there is heavy dew on the grass,
they would need but little water, but
sometimes when the wind blows all
night in "a dry time in summer, when
there is no dew on the grass, and in
winter, when sheep are on dry feed;
at such times. | think. sheep nee d
water as often as any other animal. In
the st. CroiX Valley, SO remarkably
adapted to sheep raising on account
of Its pure water, abundant grasses
and dry atmosphere, no one need fear
the diseases that sometimes attack
sheep in other localities. Lameness is
sometimes caused by the outside of
the ho0f turning under, causing pres
sure on tender part of the foot. Relief
may be given by pairing off that part
of hOOf turning under. Indigestion,
or what is sometimes called stretches
in sheep, may be cured by giving one
tablespoonful of red pepper mixed in
three spOonfuls of water.
Feeding sheep in winter is a mat
ter of considerable Importance. There
is danger in feeding too much grain
as well as not feeding enough. One
handful of oats each morning and
evening, and good clover hay fed as
regular as morning and evening comes,
until your flock can get grass in album
dance, will insure you good fleece of
wool. and one, two or three lambs
from each eve sheep. When lambs
are due in February and March the
shepherd should give extra care to his
tlOcks. In case of lamb being chilled
before getting nourishment from the
eve. some milk should be drawn from
the udder Of the eve and fed to the
lamb.
Sheep properly fed and well cared
for will have plenty of milk. and will
take as good care Of their offspring in
winter as they will in summer. Or
the other hand sheep poorly fed and
poorly cared tor will drop their lambs
in some cold place and give them one
sad look and go away seemingly say
ing. poor, weak thing, I have no
nOurishmenC for you, you had better
die than live and be treated as | have
been" TO prove my statement | will
mention one instance of one eve
that dropped her lamb the 18th OF
February: her udder was so large
it was thought best to draw the milk
from it; one quart was drawn al
that time, and the lamb had all the
milk it needed from one side; the nex
day one quart was drawn from the
other side of the udder and it was
necessary to draw a portion of the
milk for three or four days until the
lamb could take it all.
In April when the potatoes are sort
ed over, the small potatoes should be
fed to the sheep that have the early
lambs that you intend to furnish fol
the Fourth of July dinner.
Sheep should have salt on Saturdays
of each week, except two weeks before
shearing time. sulphur at the rate
of one tablespoonful to two quarts OF
salt will rid sheep Of ticks and keel
them from pulling out their wool.
Sheep raising properly managed viii
prepare the soil for more abundant
crop of grass and grain and make il
possible to add to our herds, horse
and cattle.
Our large wheat fields that have
been sown to wheat for 40 years have
done remarkably we'll and yet thi
| fertile valley is not exhausted as viii
be seen by the treatment of 40 acre.
/ of land in the town of Troy, st. CrOi,
Co. which has been seeded to small
| grain 80 years in succession. The allow
named forty acres of land was seede,
with timothy and clover seed and pas
| tured four years with sheep. Fac
| year the manure from yards and shed
| that had been well b6ded with straw
/ was spread from wagons as hauled on
| in July. thin dressing sufficient I
/ manure ten acres each year. after tn
| 40 acres had been all MANFRED, it wa
broken up in July ana had no othe
treatment until the following sprin
of 1888 when it was sown to wheat an
! produced - bushels of spring whea
| per acre which tested A No. /, and
| was a poor year for wheat, too.
With sheep properly managed W
may raise wool and mutton III Held
that at the present time produce will
oats. wild peas and pigeon grass. !
flock of sheep in my opinion is Tn
best remedy for foul lands. The in
pOrtant fact should be born in min
that they who give the best care {
their fiocks are the ones Nho will T,
ceive the greatest reward for thei
labor.
In saving the young of the fiocb
lies one great secret of success in shee
| -. sss,,,r fI,a idaa il illustrated nv IN